Marker for highway poles



March 1, 1932.. BROWN 1,847,923

MARKER FOR HIGHWAY POLES Filed Nov. 4; 1931 0/ 17 I z' //2\ F617, 6

[N VEN T012 I c/ ferrz l 37602070 V of poles, either Patented Mar. 1,193.2.

MARKER seamen? Bonus 1 I ilip'plication filedilqovember l, ,sraiirdj'ggsze.

My invention'relates to'new and useful'im-i provements in a marker forhighway poles, and has for one of its objects to provide'a simple andeffective device of this character which may be easily and quicklyattached to poles, trees, or other similar supportsalong the highwaysfor the purpose of iden tifying or showing the exact location of saidpoles, trees, or other similar supports to drivers of vehicles, wherebythe sides ofthe road are readily discernible and whereby such road sideobstructions are plainly'vis-r' ible at night when rays of light shineupon the same. r

Another and very essential object is of the invention is to provide amarkerfor electric wire supporting poles especially, which embody safetyfirst principlesby eliminating all upwardly projecting sharp edges to--prevent injury to a lineman who may either purposely -or accidentallyslide down the p .v V

' Another object of the invention is to provide a pole marker of uniqueshape which is adapted snugly lor tightly fit on all types wooden poles,ra i a i i Another objectofithe invention is to provide a marker" of theclass described which will provide ample climbing space for line-" men,although occupying a considerable verticalspace on the pole and'therebypreventing'mutilation' of themarker by a lineman {s climbing spurs. I

Anoth'er object of the invention'is to pro duce' a marker for highwaypoles embodying a number of independent units which are mounted upon asupport in vertical spaced relation permitting the use of any number ofunitsnecessary to makethemvis ible at a sufficient distance to guide"the driver of a vehicle along the highway, it being necessary to use agreater number 'of hether straight, crookedor the units where higherelevations are en-' countered and a less number on poles situated atlower elevations, v

A' further object of the lnvention :is to 5 provide a marker which'while being-disposed over plain, painted or creosoted iormlng a arather large 1 area ofthe support," requires less material than would benecessary to completely cover the sam'e'area of the support,thereby-accomplishing a saving in material so that the use of such anria-rlrer is really economicaland the cost of installation'i'swery low.

i 'A still furthe-riob'ect of the invention is to provide a marker forhighway poles, each i unit of which is crescent shaped so that when twoor more o'fsaid units are used to produce 50 a marker, the upper edge ofthe center of a lower; marker unit will be substantially in the samehorizontal lineas the'ends' of'the adjacent higher marker unit, so thatsome portion of one o'r more of the units will be visw ible at allpoints-from the ground line of the pole totheupper marker unit whenanar-- row horizontal light beam "from an automobile head-light shinesupon the pole.

' With these andother endsin view, this invention consists in thedetails of construc: tion and combination of elements hereinafterset-forth and then; specifically designatedby stand how to make and usethe same, 'I will describe its construction in detail, referring bynumerals to the accompanying drawings part of 'this'ia'pplicati-on, inso which:' i i V Fig.1 is a face view of one of the marker unitsconstructed in accordance with the present invention when laid outfiat.

Fig. 2 is an edge view thereof after'being givena'general curved shapeprior "to mounting the same upon a poleor other similar p-Po f a a Fig.3 isa side elevation of the lowerpart of apole showing the markerproduced from 'threeunits mounted upon the pole and illus trating howthe marker will appear to the operator of a vehicle approaching thepole. I h Fig; 4 is a' view at right angles to Fig. 3,

when facing and looking at the left hand side .Fig. 5 is'an enlargedverticalsectional view 7 of one of the units at about the centerthereof. Fig; 6:is a side elevation of a serrated spike V is preferablyproduced by stamping the same from sheet metal in a crescent shape asshown in Fig. 1 and then curving the samelengthwise as shown in Fig. 2,and such curve has a radius less than the radius of the smallest pole onwhich the marker is to be used, so that the ends must be sprung apartfarther than they are normally spaced to permit the unit to be passedabout the support and when the ends are released willspring into place,causing the unit to snugly fit its support where itmay be securedbyanysuitable fas.- tening devices, such as serrated spikes ll havinglarge rounded heads 12.v

.Two holes 13 in vertically spaced relation are provided at the centerof the unit for the reception of the fastening devices and another hole14: is ,providedateach end, also for the reception of fastening devices.Y

.Each unit is also preferably curved outwardly from edge to edge asshoWn in Fig. 5, which permits the unit to more closely or moreperfectly fitits support because from a practical working standpointonly an edge contact is made and such edge can be made tomore readilyfit any deformations'than if an attempt is made to cause the entiresurface of the unit to fit the irregularities of a poleor other similarsupport.

A narrow: groove '15 may. be fashioned in the inner surface of the unitin proximity to its upper edge and parallel with the. entire length ofsaid'upper edge, thus producinga bead 16 on the exterior surface and asmall rearwardly projecting lip 17 along the up per edge. Thisarrangement will insure an absolute close fit of the upper edge of theunit against its support so that a persons body, wearingapparel orsupporting strap and spurs will readily slide thereover, and to furtherinsure against any protruding sharp edge, the lip17 may be faced orembedded into-its support so that a'portion of the outer face of themarker unit will practically merge with the outer'surface of its supportand anythingsliding along the pole will pass on to the unit withouthindrance.- 7

Any number of units are used in vertical spaced relation to produce amarker such as illustrated in Figs. 3, 4: and 8, wherein a very largearea of that part of the pole which is visible to'drivers of vehiclesalong the highway is occupied by the marker, yet

the amount of material required is relatively small so that such amarker is very cheap to produce. The spacing of the units of the markerleaves a sufiicient amount of the pole exposed for the use of linemensspurs thereon making it unnecessary for the linemen to penetrate andthereby mutilate the marker.

Another advantage of a marker of this kind is the ornamental effect thatit produces outside of its utility and as will be obvious, each unit maycarry any suitable ornamentation, designation devices or coloring andthey can be arranged so as to have a definite contrast relative to thesupport in order to make them plainly visible at close distances whileblending into surrounding landscape, whereby they will be practicallyinvisible at greater distances.

I Another advantage of the unique shape of the units is that they do nothave to be mounted absolutely concentric to each other nor do the endshave to be in the same horizontal line to make them visible for theresults desired and still they will not be unsightly,

It is a well known fact that public service companies employing polesfor supporting their power lines generally prohibit the use of signs ormarkers of any kind upon the poles, because they produce grave hazardsfor the lineman who must climb such poles, because of protruding nail ortack heads, and sharp edges or corners of signs which cannot be made tosnugly fit all shapes of poles. Should a person climbing a pole miss hisfooting and slide down the pole, he is likely to be injured byprotruding tacks or nails or sharp edges or corners of signs, and theinjury may result in permanent disability or even death, which wouldsubject the company to large damage suits. These disadvantages areentirely overcome by my invention, since the shape of the marker unitscauses at least the upper edges to closely and snugly fit the poles, andthe heads of the. fastening devices being round, it is practicallyimpossible fora pert son to be injured or his clothing damaged. Inactual practice, each unit is first fastened at its center by twofastening devices and each end of V the unit then separately drawn intoplace regardless of the position it assumes, so long as the upperedge issnug against the pole and then each. end finally secured in place by asingle fastening device.

Of, course it is to be understood that my invention is not to be limitedto the exact de tails of construction herein shown as these may bevaried within the limits of the appended claims without departing fromthe spirit of my invention.

. Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new anduseful is 1. In a marker for highway poles, a crescent shaped unitcurved outwardly perpendicularly to its length. j a '2. In a, marker ofthe, kind described, a

III)

g with the support.

crescent shaped unit curved longitudinally and also outwardlyperpendicularly to its length. p

3. In a marker of the kind described, a crescent shaped unit, anoutwardly projecting concavo-convex rib formed parallel-with andadjacent to its upper edge, and a lip produced between said rib and theupper edge I p edges of theends'of the ad acent upper unit,

of the unit. v

l, In a marker ofthe kind described, a crescent shaped unit, anoutwardly projecting concavo-convex rib formed parallel with andadjacent to its upperedge, and'arear wardly projecting lip producedbetweenthe' said rib and the upper edge of the 5. In a marker forhighway poles and the like, a unit havingthe general outline of acrescent curved longitudinally to fit a support which is substantiallyround in cross section and curved vertically whereby the edges of theunit will first contact the support on which it is placed, said unithaving a pair of vertically spaced holes at the center and one hole ateach end, a rib projecting from the outer face of said unit and producedby. the formation of a groove in the inner face thereof adjacent to andparallel with the upper edge of the unit,and a rearwardly' projectinglip formed from the unit material between the rib and said upper edgeand adapted to be embedded in the support.

6. A marker for highway poles consisting of a plurality of crescentshaped units secured to a support in vertically spaced relation.

7 A marker of the kind described, consisting, of a plurality of crescentshaped units:

for attachment in vertically spaced relation and a lip between said riband upper edge of each unit to be faced into the support.

'10. In combination with a pole, a marker consisting of a plurality ofcrescentshaped units curved longitudinally to fit and mount ed invertically spaced relation upon said pole so that the top of the centerof each lower V I Q unit is substantially in line with the lower saidunits being vertically curved outward,

"m I U outwardly projecting concavo-convex ribs.

formed from the units adjacent to and parallel with the upperedgesthereof, lips produced from the units between said ribs and .upperedges, which lips may-be hammered into the support, each of said unitshave two vertically spaced holes at the center and one hole at each'end, and fastening devices having large round heads'inserted throughthe holes into the pole.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto affixed my signature.

MERRITT- M. BROWN. f

to a support which is substantially circular in cross section, each ofsaid units being curved longitudinally to primarily practically fitabout the support andhaving two holes in vertically spaced relation atthe center and one hole at each end for the recep tion of fasteningdevices to secure the units of the marker in place.

' 8. A marker of the kind described, consisting of a plurality ofcrescent shaped units for attachment in vertically spaced relation to asupport which is substantially circular in cross section, each ofsaid-units being curved longitudinally to primarily practically fitabout the support and having two holes in vertically spaced relation atthe center and one hole at each end for the reception of fasteningdevices to secure the units of themarker in place, and each unit alsobeing vertically curved outward to provide a limited contact surfacealong the edges for engagement 9. The structure set forthin claim 8, in

rib formedrby the production of a groove in

